Manufacture of articles from woven goods



Patented Jan. 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS DOW AINSLIE, 0F METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY, AND RICHARD MARION LEVY,

0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO THE ROESSLER & HASSLACHER CHEMI- CAL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM WOVEN GOODS.

Ho Drawing. Application filed July 19,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS Dow Ams- LIE and RICHARD MARION LEVY, citizens of the United States, and residents of Metuchen and Brooklyn, in the counties of Middlesex and Kings and States of New Jersey and New York, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Articles from Woven Goods, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved process for the manufacture of sewed articles from woven goods, and has particular reference to the manufacture of multi-ply or seamed articles such as collars, cuffs, shirts, shirt bosoms, handkerchiefs, neck bands, underwear, aprons, dresses, coats, trousers, vests, etc., from cotton, wool, linen, silk and other or mixed fibres.

The object of the invention is to effect a substantial saving in cost of manufacture under present methods, by the elimination of unnecessary handling operations, equipment, space, heat, and'general overhead expense.

The invention is particularly applicable to large scale manufacture of soft, semi-soft, and still white collars, and as an example, without intending to limit ourselves thereby, we will describe the application of the invention to large scale quantity manufacture of collars.

Frior to our invention the first step in the manufacture of white collars has been to bleach, usually by chlorin, the gray or unbleached piece goodsas it comes from the loom, the "arm gray being applied in the cotton piece goods trade to various colors ranging from yellow to dirty white or gray according to the variety of cotton employed. The bleaching of such piece goods with chlorin requires a large space containing kiers, wash boxes, sour boxes, and bleaching machines, as well as drying cans, and tenter frames to bring the web properly to the desired width. it also requires calenders and other finishing equipment. A. large amount of heat and space are required for this boiling" out, washing, souring, tentering, drying and calendering, drying and finishing equipment, as well as considerable labor in handling. The dried piece goods then goes to the cutting room where it is dried out into 1923. Serial No. 652,655.

the blanks of the finish size, and the blanks are then assembled into the rough collar through the various operations of infolding, sewing, buttonholing, etc. The rough collar may by this time have acquired considerable dirt and grease from the various machines and operations through which it has passed since the bleaching, and re uires a second bleaching and washing before t e final laundering.

According to our invention, we cut oversize blanks from the unshrunk gray piece goods, assemble same into the rough unbleached unshrunk and unlaundered collar, then bleach same, wash and launder for use. By this method, we eliminate the objectionable bleaching room and equipment for handling piece goods, at least one drying and one washing operation, and so materially simplify the manufacturing operations as to effect a saving of upwards of two cents per pound of finished goods.

\Ve have discovered that the success of the process is largely dependent upon the method of bleaching used because of the difficulty of reaching the inner plies without damaging the outside. If the bleaching is not complete, the inner gray along seams creeps through in use and discolors the outside seams. lVe have obtained especially satisfactory results with a hydrogen peroxid bleaching method, to be more fully described hereinafter, although within the broad scope of our invention we do not restrict ourselves to any particular kind of bleach other than one capable of complete penetration and eilect without damaging the outside. A hydrogen peroxid bleaching process is suitable because of the release of nascent oxygen within the plies tending to produce a balloon eilect and facilitating complete penetration.

It has heretofore been considered by those skilled in the large scale manufacture of collars that the usual bleaches for piece goods either would not penetrate the several plies of the seams in a collar, or else would, before penetrating the inner plies, have weakened the outer plies, thereby damaging the fabric and shortening its life. It has also been considered that it was impracticable to shrink a rough oversized collar to the desired standard size, and have it keep erably abou 15%, as it is preferable to have a finished co lar slightly oversize than slightly undersize. Other sizes will be cut in proportion, including both the outside and the interlining where an interlining is used. This invention is? applicable to soft and I stifi collars made of separate neck band and outside sewed together, and also to semi-soft collars which have recentlycome into the market made of one piece of special fabric and not intended to'be starched. The blanks are preferably sewed together and button holed with bleached thread, and the rough,

unshrunk or oversize collar is then taken to the bleaching room and without any further treatment is immersed in the bleach liquor. If desired, cottongoods maybe boiled out in an alkaline bath before bleaching, but the bleaching is preferably done without boiling out or, other prior treatment.

. A suitable'and preferably mildly alkaline bleach bath is 93% sodium peroxid from 2.5 to 6.0 lbs. per 100 lbs, of goods; or from 4 to 12 lbs. sodium peroxid per one hundred gallons of water. Approximately 1.3 lbs.

-.'of 66 B. sulphuric acid is used for each pound of sodium peroxid in order to partially, neutralize the caustic soda resulting from the reaction of sodium peroxid with water. As a retarding agent as well as an alkalining agent to permit proper penetration of the .bleach to the interior plies, and at the same time to allow gradual liberation of the nascent oxygen throughout the plies, about 5 lbs.'of 42 B. sodium silicate is used for each 100 gallons of bleach liquor. The strength of the resulting hydrogen peroxid bath ranges from 5 volume to 2 volumes, meaning that one gallonof bleach bath will liberate from to 2 gallons of active or nascentox -gen. The bleach is then washed out and t e collar laundered and shrunk to size. A separate operation for shrinking is not necessary, as shrinking occurs in the several afore oing operat1ons.-

The bleaching is .best carried out at approximately 180 F. for 16 to 20 hours but can be from 120 to 212 according to the material. For wool, 120 is suitable, and for boiled oif silk, 145, but for silk to be degummed and bleached in one bath, tempera ture up to boiling may be employed.

, The practical advantages of this invention are that by bleaching the made up colbecause iii-angles, kiers, drying cans, tenter.

frames and calenders used in the former process prior to laundering are dispensed with. Also, there is a material saving in Water required for washing before drying and cutting bleached piece goods. Labor and general overhead costs are materially less because of the reduction in the number of operations, handling, drying, cleaning, etc. Also dirt acquired in the assembling and sewing is removed without special washing and a second bleaching, which latter tends to weaken the goods. I By the process herein described, all plies of heme, seams, filling, etc. are completely bleached without reversion to gray even after prolonged exposure. Collars made by this process are of the desired size when dried after bleaching and remain so. Although we preferably only dried once afteri bleaching and l undering, which effects shrinkage to finis size, we do not restrict ourselves to drying and shrinking in laundering, but may dry and shrink to size after bleaching without, laundering. The sewing thread is preferably bleached, but either bleached or unbleached thread has no tendency to distort the assembled collar. The finished collar has a greater tendency to re main true to size and shape in subsequent. use than do collars made'according to present methods and is more durablebecause of only bei bleached once. As near as we can deter me, the effectiveness of the bleach penetration throughout all plies is due to the liberation of the gas)within the assembled collar between the plies which causes it to swell up or balloon and thereby gives intimate contact of the active oxygen with all portions of the fabric. Other bleach baths capable of effecting the sameresult may be used within the broad scope of this invention.

In the a pended claims the term multiple layer, while applied to collars or other articles; includes not only those articles which have two or more layers of fabric throughout, but also those in which the finished article contains two or more substantially parallel layers of fabric in any component part such as are formed by hems, seams, or bands.

'We claim:

1. The process of manufacturing an article. from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer article from unbleached piece goods, then bleaching and shrinking,

2. The process of manufacturing an artima am ole from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer article from unbleached piece goods, then bleaching and shrinking to a predetermined size.

3. The process of manufacturing an article from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer article from unbleached piece goods, bleaching in a bleach bath capable of releasing bleaching gas throughout the layers, and shrinking.

4. The process of manufacturing an article from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer article from unbleached piece goods, bleaching in a bleach bath capable of releasing nascent oxygen throughout the layers, and shrinking to the predetermined size.

5. The process of manufacturing an article from Woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer article from unbleached piece goods, bleaching in a peroxid bleach, and shrinking to the predetermined size.

6. The process of manufacturing a collar or the like from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer collar from unbleached piece goods, then bleaching and shrinking.

7. The process of manufacturing a collar or the like from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer collar from unbleached piece goods, then bleaching and shrinking to the predetermined size.

8. The process of manufacturing a collar or the like from Woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer collar from unbleached piece goods, bleaching in a bleach bath capable of releasing bleaching gas throughout the layers, and shrinking.

9. The process of'manufacturing a collar or the like from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer collar from unbleached piece goods, bleaching in ableach bath capable of releasing nascent oxygen throughout the plies, and shrinking to the predetermined size.

10. The process of manufacturing a collar or the like from woven frbric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple laye'r collar from unbleached piece goods, bleaching in a peroxid bleach at-a temperature of upwards of 160 F., and shrinking to the predetermined size.

11. The process of manufacturing a collar or the like from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer collar from unbleached piece goods, sewing together with bleached thread, bleaching and shrinking to the predetermined size.

12. The process of manufacturing a collar or the like from woven fabric which consists in forming a rough oversized multiple layer article from unbleached piece goods, assembling and sewing same together, bleaching the assembled rough oversize collar throughout all layers and seams in an alkaline bath containing a retarding agent and a source of nascent oxygen at a temperature of approximately 180 F. without damaging the outer layers, and shrinking to the predetermined size.

Signed at Perth Amboy, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, this sixteenth day of July, A. D. 1923.

THOMAS DOW AINSLIE. RICHARD MARION LEVY 

